When Harriet Kalin spreads the word about pickleball, her conversations and e-mails include the same slogan: "Funny name … great game!"

A competitive tennis player for decades until tearing a knee ligament, Kalin, of Delray Beach, says she's addicted to pickleball, which is a combination of badminton, tennis and handball.

"It's physical. It's social. It's competitive," she says.

Kalin, who turns 74 today, and her husband, Josh, 76, have organized a demonstration and clinic to take place Saturday in Boca Raton.

The couple learned to play pickleball last summer while visiting a friend in Delaware. They really got hooked during a vacation at the Villages in Central Florida, where the game is popular in retirement communities.

"Just as tennis came into its own and started to mature, now might be the time for pickleball," Kalin says. In other words, the game allows people who may not cover the court as well as they once did to get the same rush from executing smashes, setting up an opponent or just keeping their reflexes sharp.

About 20 players now gather Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Delray Beach Community Center, and Josh is registered with the USA Pickleball Association (yes, there is such a thing) as an "ambassador" for the game. There are more than 300 such ambassadors across the United States. (Check out USAPA.org.)

Pickleball is usually played with a wood paddle and a sturdier version of a perforated whiffle ball on badminton-size court, though the net is closer to the ground.

The game reportedly was invented in 1965 near Seattle by three children looking to play a variation of badminton. Their dog's name was Pickle, and he had an affinity for the ball, and, well, why not call it pickleball? .

While the game hasn't blossomed in South Florida, the newly remodeled Carter Park in Fort Lauderdale includes space for pickleball courts. Kalin notes that the game is growing among school-age children, because it's easier than tennis or badminton and offers more action.

"It's something for people of every age," she says. "One woman here said her 16-year-old is playing it in New Jersey."